Bought the Mango
by Flashing The Floods
Summary: AU. Princess Lynn has to get married. Princess Lynn is the last person Prince Alexy would want to marry. Peggy supposes she'll make a good decoy. Peggy/Lynn femslash for NotAllThere21.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: What is up with all my crappy femslash being AU lately? I really don't know...Ah well. Not like I ever really understand the crap I write anyway xD Oh yeah, and for once, this crap isn't a oneshot. There's actually gonna be a few more chapters and whatnot. And even though this is Peggy/Lynn, there may or may not be some other pairings on the side, either directly stated or in between the fucking obvious lines. Heheh. I hope you enjoy, NotAllThere21~**

Getting married was a lot harder than Princess Lynn had initially thought it was going to be. She figured her aunt would just find her a suitable prince from some wealthy kingdom and then set a date for the wedding and that would be that. But it wasn't. It wasn't that easy at all! In fact, this was probably the most complicated thing Lynn had ever had to do.

Firstly, there were only so many neighboring kingdoms that even had princes looking for wives. The prince from the Cardinal Kingdom, Dajan, had refused outright claiming a wife would distract him from his budding griffon-training career. A career. That was just poppycock! Ridiculousness! He was from the richest kingdom on the coast, for gods' sake! The last thing he needed was a career!

The prince from the Moon Kingdom refused her too. Lysander, he wanted to marry when 'the time was right.' He wanted to marry for love. Well, who the hell did that? Lynn would rather cherish her husband than not cherish him, of course, but to actually marry for the sole purpose of love? Madness. And even if she wanted to spend the time falling in love with someone before she married them, she could not afford that luxury. The entire reason she was so desperate for a husband in the first place was that the Amaranth Kingdom had spent all its wealth in the war against the Starshine Kingdom.

They were successful in the war overall, winning once Queen Debrah was slain (publicly beheaded, she had been, and Lynn found a perverse satisfaction in watching the decapitated cranium bounce down from the platform and settle in a bloody eyesore on the cobblestone), but all the effort put forth into supplies and training for the knights had dried up the finances. And war had ruined the land. Crops couldn't be grown on scorched, dead ground. No crops meant no income. She had to marry into another royal family, one still prospering and able to provide for the people in her land.

But so far, marriage was not looking to be on the horizon. She'd been refused so far by four princes. Four. Dajan and Lysander who didn't want to get married at all, Prince Dimitry of the Nocturne Kingdom who decided to marry another woman instead, and then Charli of the Cocoa Kingdom who she had wasted two valuable dates on before he (as politely as possible) concluded that she was lacking in queen material.

She sighed and rubbed her temples in slow circles, vainly trying to massage all the frustration and worries away. "Why is this so hard?"

Her answer came as a loud crash in the kitchen.

Hiking up her slate skirt, Lynn bustled to the kitchen. "Hello? Auntie? Louis?" She peered around the oven and the cook's table. No one.

"None of the above." A mop of tousled black hair poked out from around the pantry door, charcoal eyes flashing up at her. "Sorry, I broke a jar. But it was empty anyway. Pretty much everything in here is. Where'd all your food go?"

Castiel. She should have known. A wandering rogue who routinely broke into the castle kitchen and raided the pantry. He somehow always managed to elude the guards. In the beginning it infuriated Lynn that he actually had the know-how and the audacity, but she'd become accustomed to seeing him around. She even decided she liked him after getting to know him a little, and told the guards to turn a blind eye if they ever did happen to catch him (they never did).

"We're impecunious now, remember?" She scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "We only have enough food to keep ourselves from hunger."

"I thought you would've been married by now to fix that," he muttered, shuffling back out and closing the barren pantry.

"I'm trying," Lynn groaned in exasperation. "Auntie offered my hand to four princes already, and none of them want me."

"It's because your so flat," he remarked and somehow kept a tone of sympathy.

She just rolled her eyes, too used to this insult to bother with countering. "I was wondering who I should try next. What do you think about the prince from the Sun Kingdom?"

"Nathaniel? He's already taken."

Lynn cocked her head to the side. "No he isn't. His sister's married, but he isn't. Uncle Boris checked."

A bright blush crept into Castiel's cheeks. "I didn't say he was married, I said he was taken! He's with someone, they're just not married. It isn't an unfathomable concept."

"Oh...Well if he isn't married, it isn't official and he can change his mind. I still have a chance."

"No you don't! They're really serious! So serious, it's disgusting..." He was growing redder by the second.

"How do you know that?" She ran her hands through her long brown hair. It couldn't be true. This couldn't be one more prince who wouldn't marry her.

"I break into his kitchen even more than I break into yours."

Another prince to scratch off the list of salvation. Fan-fucking-tastic. It came to her attention that Castiel's face was now the shade of a ripe tomato and she felt a tug of concern. "Are you alright? You're positively flushed."

"I'm fine! Let's go back to talking about _you_!"

What the devil was he getting so defensive about this time? Gods. If there was one thing that never failed to surprise Lynn, it was how capricious Castiel could be. Nevertheless, she knew she should be focusing on her critical situation at hand. "I'm running out of princes, damnit!" She threw her hands up disgruntlement, her pine green eyes galvanizing. "What are we going to do if I can't find a prince to marry? We need an alliance! We need money!"

"You could find the princess from the Chestnut Kingdom. Her parents are willing to pay a big, fat reward to anyone who brings her back."

Lynn stared at him in confusion, her brow crinkling. "What? Princess Peggy is missing?"

"Yes, she's been missing for over three months." He snickered. "You need to start keeping up with the times."

"Excuse me," she huffed and smacked her hands to her hips. "My kingdom was at war! I wasn't exactly concerned about the affairs of foreign lands! But thank you, for telling me about that. I'll use it as a last resort, I suppose. I'd much rather get married. I don't even know where to begin to look for a missing princess..."

"You could marry that Alexy guy from the Sapphire Kingdom. The king and queen have been trying to marry him off to some princess anyway, so he can move into her kingdom."

She hadn't reached that part of the map yet. The Sapphire Kingdom was running a bit far from the zone of her preference, but if the prince there was actually in need of a bride, that changed things.

"But wait. Why would he move here? It's traditional for the princess to move to her prince's kingdom. I've never heard of it working the other way around." When two kingdoms joined through marrying off their heirs, an alliance was formed and income and land were shared by both, but the princess would still always move to the castle her prince was born in. It was customary.

"There are two heirs to the Sapphire Kingdom. Twins, Armin and Alexy. Armin was born first, so he gets the castle." Castiel shrugged. "Something to that effect, anyway."

Alexy was actually looking for a bride, and she could even be blessed with the unexpected bonus of getting to remain in her homeland. This was certainly a a desirable prospect. She had to bring this to her aunt's attention at once.

"This...This could be it." She offered Castiel a smile, one of the tiny hopeful kind that she had not worn on her face in awhile. "Thank you."

He cracked a grin. "Yeah. Remember how big of a help I am the next time I ask you for something."

* * *

Peggy padded across the inn's hallway and to her room, pushed the door open with a soft sigh. She didn't regret her choice to run away from home, but she still felt sore about the sacrifices that came in doing so. Like losing her hair. Her long, gorgeous waterfall of shiny bistre tresses that flowed down her back in perfect waves and showed her opulence. Her best feature. She cut it up to her chin so that she wouldn't be recognized.

The loss never failed to pang her, just as it did moments ago when she'd seen her reflection in the river. Ah. It couldn't be helped. Freedom wasn't really free, one had to pay a price to obtain it. Peggy sighed and closed the door behind her.

"Welcome home."

Her eyes flitted to the figure on her sofa, a familiar young man with bright blue hair and a sad smile.

"Alexy?" She frowned and scurried over, her plain beige dress swishing against her legs. "What are you doing here?" Something was wrong, she knew. She'd met the prince two months ago when her exploration trek took her to his land. They clicked interestingly enough, and had become fast friends. He'd been to Peggy's quaint rented room many times, but this was the first time he'd showed up unannounced.

"I..." He trailed off and shook his head, cerise pools wavering uneasily. "I'm not sure. Possibly to ask for advice, or possibly to say goodbye."

She put a hand on his arm and studied him firmly. "What's going on?"

"Tomorrow I'm being sent off to the Amaranth Kingdom." He sighed wearily and lowered his head. "My parents and Queen Agatha arranged for me to marry her niece. We have one week to get to acquainted with each other, and then we'll be wed and that's that. I don't have any say in it at all." His voice broke with bitterness and he buried his face into his hands, fingers threading through his hair.

Peggy's heart wrenched in her chest and went out to her despairing friend. In her opinion, no one should be forced to get married without even having a say in it, but this was an especially unkind fate to thrust upon Alexy. Girls appealed to the prince about as much as boys appealed to Peggy, and he was quite happily involved with the palace's handsome young gardener.

"Oh Peggy, what do I do? I can't go through with this!" He lifted his head once move and faced her with a mix of incertitude and dolor swimming in his eyes like fish. "But I can't just refuse to marry her, either. I'll be disowned!"

Ideas were fickle things. Somethings you could try all day and night, scraping your brain and forging for inspiration, but they would still elude you.

Other times, they struck you violently and suddenly, like a stroke of lightning striking a tree and setting it aflame. Luckily, this was one of those times.

"I'll go in your place," Peggy offered smoothly. The pieces of the plan were already forming in her head.

"What?" Alexy quickly shook his head. "No. Thank you for trying to help, but that would never work."

"Listen," she said, never the type to be deterred. "It would. The princess has never met you before. No one of their royal court has, they know only your parents. I could pose as you easily. I was just thinking that my hair is so short now that it's positively boyish." She snorted. "As much as I dislike that, it seems it'll prove even more useful now."

"Peggy...I have to _marry_ her! My family will be at the wedding!" He gestured urgently. "They certainly know what I look like! And even though your hair is short, um...Well...You have...Your chest is...Feminine. And also, I repeat; I have to _marry_ her! You can't get married for my sake!"

Peggy rolled her eyes. "I won't marry her. You said you have one week to get acquainted. Well, that's also one week to think of something else to do about this situation. I'll only pose as you until we think of a permeant solution. And there are means to flatten my chest."

Alexy looked at her for a long moment, his thoughtful cerise pools betraying that he was actually contemplating this. Albeit reluctantly. "But...What about the carriage escorting me? The driver will certainly be one of our servants."

Peggy frowned softly. This was one problematic little flaw in her brilliant strategy. Damn. She pushed her finger to her lips and mulled this over. There had to be a way to remedy that, right? It was one silly issue in an otherwise infallible plan.

"What about your beau? It wouldn't be that farfetched for the gardener to escort you, and he'll certainly help us. He won't want that girl stealing you away from him."

"I haven't even told him yet," Alexy breathed. He was clearly unsettled, waves of anxiety rippling from him. And yet he wasn't at a total loss anymore. Tentative hues of hope were creeping into his gaze. "But he would agree, of that I have no doubt..."

"So it's settled?"

Alexy gave her a nervous smile. "I suppose it is. It's worth a try."

"Perfect," she grinned and answered him a few octaves lower, figuring it wouldn't hurt to deepen her voice. She'd need to after all, if she were going to pass for male.

Alexy chuckled softly at her attempt and she batted him on the arm.

"Sorry," he quipped. "And Peggy, thank you. Even if this doesn't work, it really means a lot to me." He grabbed her up in a tight, suffocating hug, clinging on like a mollusk to a ship.

"You're welcome. I was meaning to travel that way anyway." She smiled and patted him on the head. It was true that Peggy had been meaning to travel to the Amaranth Kingdom, though she initially thought she would tour through the smaller villages and closer kingdoms first. Traveling and seeing the world was the most crucial factor in why she ran away. Posing as Alexy meant she would have to humor the princess for a bit, but that was fine. Perhaps she could even get some information about the Amaranth Kingdom out of her, and tuck it away for a rainy day.

And she had to pat herself on the back for concocting such a genius scheme.

* * *

**To be continued and whatnot...Drama bombs and gayness abound. *throws confetti***

**(And by gayness, I mean happiness :D)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Might've gotten ahead of myself when I said there were drama bombs abound. Might be just a bunch of fluffy crap abound. Might be some gore/gorn and death crap abound. I dunno what's abound. Just gonna see what happens, and hope I don't disappoint ._. And sorry this update took so long, NotAllThere21. I really don't have a good explanation...My brain just kinda went into a turkey coma for a little while. This whole chapter is like noticeably crappier than my normal crap. It's all filler-ish and yuck. Like drinking warm beer. I'm so, so sorry dude, dunno what's up with that. I promise the third one isn't gonna suck this hard though o.e' **

"So I used to guard Debrah's palace, but now that she's dead I'm out of work," the azure-haired peasant chuckled nervously. "Since she got killed on my watch and all, I guess that makes it seem like I'm bad at my job. I'm not, I swear. She was just overthrown so suddenly, and by then I was probably the only worker in the castle who hadn't changed allegiances. I was severely outnumbered."

"I see," Lynn's fingernails clicked softly on the golden arm of her throne. She wasn't keen on hiring anyone that used to work for her adversary, but the castle was painfully understaffed. Her prince was arriving today, and she didn't want to immediately trouble him with the burden of finding her more help. No, today she wanted to make a good impression on him. "Be frank with me, Miss...Your name again?"

"Marcese, Your Majesty."

"Be frank with me, Miss Marcese. Are you here to extract vengeance of any kind?"

"Oh, no! No, not at all." She gave another nervous giggle and tugged at the hem of her faded, fraying shirt. "I was merely loyal to the late queen because it was in the job description. I take my job very seriously, Your Highness."

"Very well. What are your skills?"

"I'm best in archery, but stealth and knife throwing are also in my favor."

A specific skill set. And a useful one. "Assume a post guarding the open gorge tower."

"Thank you," she breathed and bowed her head. "You won't regret this!"

"See that I don't." Lynn gave a small nod in dismissal. The newly appointed guard scampered to her post and the princess was once more left to herself and her impatience. Her prince was going to arrive in a few short hours. She was concurrently tingling with excitement, cooled with relief, and fluttering with nervousness. It was exhausting to be turbulent with so many different feelings and Lynn couldn't keep questions she couldn't answer from flooding her mind.

What would Alexy be like?

What did he _look_ like?

Was he as excited to get married as she was?

What were his hobbies?

Would he want children right away?

Did he have a favorite food?

If so, what was it?

She knew she would find out all of this spending time with him in the week to come, but oh! She just couldn't help wondering! This was a man she was going to share the rest of her reign with. She would become his queen in time, and he her king, and she wanted to know everything about him! She had never been as curious about anything else in her life! A person could drive themselves mad being patient about all of this...

"Lynn!" Agatha strutted across the polished marble and fixed her with a stern gaze. "Prince Alexy is going to be here in two hours! Why are you so underdressed!?"

Lynn squirmed under her aunt's stare and surveyed her silky, form-fitting indigo gown. It was certainly too simple for the occasion and she'd definitely planned on changing. But she was putting off changing because; "I know, I know! I just couldn't decide what to wear! What if I wear the wrong color and make a bad impression? Or the wrong jewelry?"

"Well you're going to make an even worse impression if you present yourself as you are now." The queen strode up the steps and gently tugged on her niece's hand. "Come on, no more dillydallying, let's get you cleaned up and in something proper."

"Yes, Auntie." The princess dipped her head and allowed Agatha to drag her off her throne and to the washtub upstairs.

Normally dipping into the warm, perfumed water would be relaxing. But today she was too wired to relax. Rampant questions and anxiety and anticipation spun through her head with each swipe of the soapy rag and each dunk under the bathwater. Every second ticking by was a second closer to his arrival.

When Lynn stepped out of the tub, her skin was as smooth as a mango and she smelled as though she'd just rolled in a field of wildflowers. None of that did anything to ease her nerves of course, but her aunt was confident that this was an upside. Her aunt was also confident that the dress she picked out was the perfect thing for Lynn to wear.

Lynn studied the garment with unconvinced eyes. It was indeed a lovely dress, of deep Persian blue velvet, embroidered from the bust to her ankles with a glittery, silver floral pattern. But was it something her prince would like? How could she be sure? She asked her aunt about this.

"Oh, don't you worry," declared the queen with patience and assurance as she took Lynn in a brief hug. "This dress is perfect. It matches your sapphire jewelry."

Right, that made sense. Her prince was from the Sapphire Kingdom, she should wear sapphire jewelry. Wait...What if it only_ seemed_ to make sense!? Was wearing sapphire jewelry for a Sapphirian man too contrived? Too expected and boring? Maybe she should wear pearls instead. Topaz, perhaps? What about that garnet necklace her uncle Faraize bought her on her birthday?

Lynn wouldn't have thought it was possible, but she was now even more nervous than she'd been earlier. Doubt swelled in her chest, caged by her ribs but threatening to escape, and pushing down on the butterflies that flitted and fluttered about beneath. She put on the chosen regalia with trembling fingers and tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that her aunt had experience in these ventures.

"I'll go get Laeti to do your hair now," Agatha patted her on the shoulder and left the room. Laeti replaced her mere moments later, so thankfully Lynn didn't have too much time alone to mentally drown in unanswerable questions.

"Ohh Lynn," breathed the only servant in the castle who was allowed to address her without formality. "You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks, Laeti." Lynn offered her a small, nervous smile. "Do you think my prince would approve?"

"Of course he would," Laeti gushed and circled the princess, her bright baby-blue eyes scanning her up and down. "Any boy would, and believe me, I know boys!"

"You do," the princess agreed, and genuinely felt a little bit better. Laeti had string after string of boyfriends and was currently dating a squire Lynn didn't know the name of (little did Lynn know, it wouldn't be a boy she was trying to impress at all). "So, my hair...You'll um...Do something with it?" Lynn lifted her tresses by the ends and looked to her servant sheepishly.

"Oh yeah," Laeti nonchalantly waved her hand. "I know just how to take care of this."

* * *

Peggy plopped her chin in her hand and gazed out the small window. The clip-clop of horses' hooves and creaking of wheels over stone played a simple melody. The seat under Peggy bobbed and bumped in tune with it as the minutes ticked by. "I don't understand it, Jade. If you use magic, why are we still going by carriage? Couldn't we cut the trip in half, by summoning a portal or something like that?"

"I said I dabbled in magic," his voice came back, "I didn't say I was an expert. I can't do anything that advanced. Besides, this is what your fiancé is expecting."

"_Alexy's_ fiancé," she corrected. "I'm just the stand in, here."

Jade gave a low, despondent sigh. Peggy felt a prickle of sympathy for reminding him that his boyfriend was the one who was supposed to get married. In turn, she changed the subject.

"Do you have any potions that could make this cutting board any more comfortable?" As she asked, she sat up straighter and squirmed in her seat, gloved fingers futilely playing at the folds of her—no, Alexy's—shirt. She relied on the layers to keep her looking flat. Well, the layers and a simple cutting board from the kitchen. It was rather uncomfortable to have a polished piece of wood strapped to one's torso. Sweat trickled down as her skin rubbed its surface and left her feeling sticky and repressed.

"I don't, sorry." He was short, clipped. Still undoubtedly thinking about his boyfriend's unfavorable engagement.

"A shame," she chimed and poked her head out of the window a little farther. She closed her eyes and found simple pleasures in the way the warm wind washed over her face. "So, do you have any ideas about how to get Alexy out of this?"

"We could fake his death. Though somehow I feel he wouldn't appreciate that idea."

Peggy chuckled. "I always wanted to fake my own death and go to my own funeral in disguise. I would ask everybody what they really thought of me."

"That's interesting," Jade trilled, sounding a bit bemused. "I've never thought of that before."

"I'm sure I've thought of tons of things you haven't thought of before. Like stealing the princess. That could definitely solve this situation."

"Stealing the princess?"

"Of course." Peggy smirked. "Alexy can't marry her if she isn't there."

"Where would you put her? I'm far from thrilled about this whole arrangement, but you shouldn't put the poor girl in danger. She has as little say in this as Alexy does."

"I wouldn't put her in danger." Peggy rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure where I would put her though. I'd have to scope the land out first to find a suitable and _safe_-," she added pointedly. "-spot."

"You'll have your chance soon. We're already here." And the next thing Peggy knew, the carriage stopped and Jade was dutifully trying to help her down, which was something no one had done for her since she'd fled from her title as princess.

She tipped her head back and surveyed the looming, granite castle that lay across a short stretch of yard. Her new (temporary) home. The moat glittered under the late sun's beaming rays. Bushels of ambrosia and (predictably) amaranth grew along the castle walls and bordered either side of the drawbridge. Peggy noted that security seemed lacking. Before she could think any more about it, a buoyant female voice broke into the atmosphere.

"Hello, my prince!" A smiling brunette in a most extravagant blue dress that put every dress Peggy had ever worn to shame came jogging down the path. She must've been wearing really high heels, because she stumbled and tottered with every other step.

Peggy thought to yell at her to be more careful, because she looked bound to trip any second now, but closed her mouth. The girl was close enough now that she was going to slow and not— Damn!

Peggy sprung forward by reflex and seized the falling girl before she could acquaint the paved stone.

"Oh my," the brunette squeaked. Her small, silver net-gloved hands found Peggy's chest and pressed to it gently. She lifted her head, a gleaming, sheepish smile on her lips and a giddy nervousness in the most stunning pine-green eyes Peggy had ever seen. "I'm so sorry about that! I was just to excited to see you, I guess I got carried away. Thanks for catching me! You haven't even been here ten minutes and you're already saving me." Her voice bobbed like a boat on the water, her tone flighty and bird like.

"You're welcome," Peggy purred. "You are my fiancé, correct?" It couldn't hurt to make sure. It's not like Peggy had been told in advance what she had looked like. The real Alexy hadn't even been told what Princess Lynn looked like.

"Oh, yeah." Lynn anxiously tucked back a stand of hair that had fallen out of her bun and adjusted her tiny, sapphire tiara. "I'm Lynn. And you're Alexy. I can just call you Alexy, right? We're going to be married soon, after all."

Right. Married. Peggy gazed over Lynn up and down, studying her with mild awe and interest. Her dress hugged her body until her hips, where it flowed out smoothly. She had a pert, moderate chest and a graceful neck. 'Refined' was what her physique said. Her expression said 'flustered.'

"Of course, ma chérie." Peggy cupped Lynn's hand and pushed a gentlemanly kiss to her smooth knuckles. Her skin tasted (rather pleasantly) of blooming wildflowers and marzipan. She peered up at the princess with a suave smile and couldn't help feeling just a little flustered herself at the way Lynn's eyes were glimmering and twin circles of red crept into her cheeks.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you," she murmured breathlessly, a part of her almost seeming as if in a daze. She gave Peggy the same inquisitive once-over.

"Likewise." Peggy tentatively lowered her hand.

"Would you like me to give you a tour of your new home?"


End file.
